She broke eye contact for a few seconds. “I was being truthful when I told you I like you a lot. I’m very closed off when it comes to…um, er…relationships.” She held up a hand. “I’m not making an assumption that this is one. I’m telling you how I feel.”
“Do you want me to stop touching you, stop telling you how beautiful you are, how many things I like about you?”
She wanted to keep her emotional distance so she wouldn’t get hurt, but she had to speak the truth. “I love itandI’m uncomfortable, if that makes sense.”
“I’ll tread lightly.” He kissed her. “Thank you for being honest.”
“Always.”
Eckert appeared. He was rail thin, with a bushy beard. He slid into the booth across from them as the waitress delivered their drinks.
“Good to meet you, Sin. Rico’s a huge fan of yours.” His gaze slid to Evangeline. “I’m Eckert, how ya doin’?”
“I’m Evan. Hoping you can help us out.”
“Whatcha need?”
“Can you ID this woman?” She showed him the video.
“Is this a joke or somethin’?” Eckert asked. “That’s you, doll.”
Evangeline shook her head. “Not me.”
Eckert turned back to the video and looked closer. While twirling a chunk of his beard, he said, “She looks kinda familiar. Could be this chick that came in a bunch of times with some big-ass Russian dude with a shaved head. They were into ropes. What the hell was his name?” Eckert drained his glass. “Nothing comes to mind. He got fucked up one night and my DM tossed him out. She shows up a week later with this older dude, only she changed her hair from platinum blonde to dark brown, like in the video.”
“Are you sure?” Sin asked.
“Pretty sure. I recognize that mole on her tit. I got a thing for tits and she was stacked.”
Evangeline checked the video. “What mole?”
Eckert pointed to a small dark spot. “I remember she had these big ass…what are they called?”
“Nipples,” Sin replied dryly.
Evangeline bit back a laugh.
“No, the thing around them,” Eckert said.
“Areolas?” she asked before exchanging glances with Sin.
“Yeah, that’s it.” Eckert shrugged. “Most people remember a pretty face. I remember boobs.”
Sin pushed out of the booth. “How ‘bout introducing us to your dungeon monitor?”
They followed Eckert into one of the smaller rooms. A man was engaged in rope bondage with another man, who was suspended from the ceiling. Eckert whispered to a heavily tattooed man and he stepped away from the scene.
“What’s the word?” asked the dungeon monitor.
“Do you remember the big, Russian dude you threw out?”
The DM pursed his lips. “Kinda, maybe. I toss people out every weekend.”
“He was always with a blonde, big titties. She liked being suspended by ropes. They came in here a bunch of times.”
He furrowed his brow. “Didn’t she go by Rave?”
Eckert smiled, revealing a mouthful of crooked, yellowed teeth. “Yeah, that’s her.”
